A while back DT previewed the game trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine and since then the movie has premiered and the game has been released. I picked up the Activision title a few days ago and my first impressions are actually quite good. The thing to remember with the game is that it only borrows concepts from the movie; so reading about the game before you see the movie won’t actually spoil a whole lot – especially if you stole watched a copy of the version floating around online.
The best way to describe the game play is to use that cross analogy thing – in this case Wolverine is a cross between Ninja Gaiden and Drake’s Fortune. In more ways than one this is a traditional hack and slash carnage type of a game. You’re Wolverine for goodness sake, you better be able to rip some guy to shreds. The button combinations are quite easy and the gradual way of increasing the amount of moves you can perform works well with the development of the character. I’ve only been playing for a few days now but I’ve mastered the Lunge-Slash-Throw-Decapitate move.
Which brings me to the next pleasant surprise with this game – the gore factor. After watching the PG-13 feature film and not really enjoying the fact that the flick leaves a lot to the imagination I was half expecting the same for the game. But I was completely wrong, this game is bloody, very bloody. The metallic claws are put to good use especially when you’re ripping off enemy limbs and throwing limp bodies into spikes. For the first time ever in a Wolverine-based video game the player can actually see the damage they are inflicting by the pools and sprays of blood through0ut.
The game story is always a big part of the experience for me. If there’s no point, no motivation, I really don’t have anything to do with it. With X-Men Origins: Wolverine the story is actually quite compelling. Although the look of the game and the movie are similar, it should be noted that the story lines are quite different. There are a ton more characters in the game than there are in the movie and the criticism behind Wolverine’s motivation in the flick are handled nicely in the game.
But X-Men Origins: Wolverine isn’t a perfect game by any means. There are a lot of flaws including the reliance of button mashing to get through certain puzzles and the fact that the healing factor makes everything quite easy. There are also some visual flaws with enemies and hints being difficult to see in the shadows.
If you were thinking of checking this out I would wait. I have a feeling you’ll be able to pick up a used copy pretty soon as the replay value isn’t that high.
